Union members react to Michigan right-to-work bills

By Dustin Blitchok, For the Daily Tribune

Friday, December 7, 2012

LANSING — The mostly empty hallways of the Capitol Building were populated by dozens of Michigan State Police troopers the morning after the turbulent passage of right-to-work legislation by the House and Senate.

“This is monumental legislation that’s going to change this state, probably forever,” said Chris Chwalek, a member of Laborers Local 1076 in Pontiac and lives in Milford.

He was one of about a dozen union members at the Capitol on Friday morning.

“We got locked out; this is a building we pay taxes for,” Chwalek said.

“If Gov. Snyder says that this doesn’t affect collective bargaining at all, it doesn’t affect union workers, (then) why would he exempt the firefighters and the police from the bill?” said Chwalek.

“It’s a way to dismantle the unions by allowing guys not to pay their fair share,” he said. “I mean, these Republicans want to say they hate welfare; well, this is nothing more than welfare.”

A Thursday statement from Snyder and Republican legislative leaders praised the bills, which, if signed by Snyder, will spell the end of union dues as a term of employment.

“We respect the fact that the freedom-to-work issue evokes strong emotions among supporters and opponents,” Snyder said in the statement.

“ ... But with this issue now on the table, it’s time to embrace the benefits that come with giving working men and women the freedom they deserve. The values of freedom, fairness and equality in the workplace should unite us all. And, as states fiercely compete for jobs, this legislation will ensure that investors know Michigan is the place to do business,” Snyder said.

Ray Soerries, an electrical lineman from Fowlerville and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 17 in Detroit, stood near the statue of former Gov. Austin Blair on the Capitol grounds on Friday.

“Anywhere there’s a right-to-work state, wages drop and unemployment’s higher,” he said. “It reduces the power of the working man.”

Fellow lineman Chad Clark, of St. Louis, agreed. Clark is a member of IBEW Local 876 in Edmore.

“It was pretty intense,” he said of Thursday’s legislative session, when an estimated 2,500 people crowded the Capitol. “It wasn’t intense enough to get our message across.”

Clark said the right-to-work bills are “just wrong.”

Electrical lineman are in a field “that’s very high-skilled; we work with high voltage,” Clark said.

Union dues pay for training, Clark said: “Why should somebody come in and get that training for free?” The legislation is “going to drive the wages down for everybody,” the lineman said.

Scott Brown, of Albion, is a marketing representative at Laborers Local 355 in Battle Creek.

“Had this been January, and the new representatives had been in place, this never would have happened,” he said of Thursday’s vote.

“We were locked out for a significant portion of the day yesterday, so we couldn’t even be heard or see what they were doing,” he said.

Legislators “intentionally appropriated money with this bill, so voters won’t have an opportunity to repeal,” Brown said.

A $1 million appropriation attached to the right-to-work bills made them spending bills, and therefore immune from referendum.

Ben Lyons, of Lansing, is a field representative at Laborers Local 499 in Ann Arbor.

“Everyone has a right to be in a union right now, and everybody has a right not to be,” he said. “If we’re only 18 percent strong in Michigan right now, we’re not forcing it on them.”

The House and Senate are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday.

“There’s going to be a large presence of people there to show their displeasure in our Legislature for how they are pushing this bill,” said Jeannette Bradshaw, an Ortonville resident and recording secretary at IBEW Local 58 in Detroit.

“It seems to be a clear message that our Legislature did not want the people in the process,” she said.